Earth Observation Data Integration Pilot 7 Innovative processing to aid RPA remote sensed payment checking

Tender description

Defra’ s Secretary of State has made better use of data and technology a key strand of the department’s new approach and has highlighted the use of satellite data and the EU Copernicus programme as important opportunities to modernise the way we do business. The “Earth Observation Data Integration Pilot” (EODIP) initiative is the first demonstrator for new ways of integrating satellite and other data to enable more efficient data gathering and operations across a wide field of Defra’s interests, from crop mapping and CAP implementation, habitat condition and natural capital assessment to catchment management. The aim of the Earth Observation Data Integration Pilot (EODIP) project is to demonstrate the benefits of using new, free EO data to drive forward innovation and boost efficiency, to improve decisions and deliver an improved environment and thriving rural communities. The pilot will evaluate the economic benefits and cost savings through the application of new technology and provide a test-bed for an integrated ‘nature map’ of England. The initiative consists of a suite of around 10 projects that together form a test-bed for an integrated ‘nature map’ of England and will be the first flagship initiative for the Defra Earth Observation Centre of Excellence – a formal deliverable from Defra’s ONE Monitoring Programme. One of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) functions is to catalogue; align data and services in the most efficient manner. This Defra Project Code SD0495, pilot 7 Innovative processing to aid Rural Payments Agency (RPA) remote sensed payment checking, which aims to produce a method of applying Earth observation image processing techniques that will improve the number and accuracy of RPA land model land use classes that can routinely be determined in the Control with Remote Sensing process, and which allows for effective claims validation and control of greening scheme rules. It is based on pilot trials in two test areas in Wattisham, Suffolk, and Sheriff Hutton, North Yorkshire.